2016 CX5 Steering wheel

Hello All

How do you all feel the steering of your CX5. From day one, for me it appeared to be very hard to turn. I have driven a mazda 3 and cx9 and they both appeared very smooth. Not sure its just my mindset or there is any real issue with the vehicle itself. When the car is running and i take hands off the wheel the car maintains its course and doesn't deviates. I check the power steering fluid and it looks good. I have booked my first service on Monday and need to get some more expert advise before reaching the dealer. Not sure what all they do with first service, but mostly its just changing the fluid and giving it back

Im sorry, my bad. I just went through the manuals again, I mistook it for the Brake/Clutch fluid container. :-)...

Ah, so there you go, you must be having issue with your electrical power steering system, when I'm parking, the steering wheel is really easy to turn, almost no effort or force required, I hear a very slight soft buzzing sound which is normal that's the electrical power steering working.

Mine feels sloppy and loose going into driveways at an angle with some numb center steering.

Sometimes in the morning I feel like I turn the steering wheel and there is a slight half second pause THEN the wheel turns.

Not possible with a direct mechanical linkage between the steering wheel and the steering rack, unless there's somehow massive play between the rack and pinion gears in the system. Don't see how that would happen, though.

^ thats what I thought as well but I know I'm not imagining it. It is somewhat repeatable but very subjective in the sense that the tech can say "I dont feel anything" turning the steering wheel since its not audible or felt in the passenger side.

Any ideas where to look? I checked for wheel bearing play, some mounting points, etc

Hi all
Today my CX5 steering has become very smooth all of a sudden. After buying the car in Apr-2016 today i really enjoyed the drive. Not sure what caused the change,
Though it has become very effortless now to turn the wheel, Im concerned now. Any thoughts ?

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Hi all
Today my CX5 steering has become very smooth all of a sudden. After buying the car in Apr-2016 today i really enjoyed the drive. Not sure what caused the change,
Though it has become very effortless now to turn the wheel, Im concerned now. Any thoughts ?

Maybe it just needed to have a lil of your attention? Now that it has your attention it will play nice?

Modern cars can vary the amount of steering assist depending on speeds. Low speed/parking lot maneuvers have a lot of assist to make turning the wheel easy. Higher speeds require very little assist.

From my experience with my 2014 CX5, even at moderate speeds (~25mph), the amount of assist can be on the lower side, which requires a bit more effort when turning the wheel. Effort at those speeds is more than what's required when going even slower (parking).

If you're experiencing the effort change at different speeds, then it is normal. Maybe you're just noticing the effort difference between the different speed thresholds? If you're experiencing different levels of assist at the same speeds, then there could be something faulty with your steering system.

Mazda's steering effort transitions very smoothly between different speeds. I've driven a GM car where I could actually feel the steering wheel suddenly lighten up in the middle of a turn once I went under a certain speed. It actually caused me to abruptly give more steering input than needed and I had to correct myself, even though I was just slowing down through a constant radius turn.

I actually like the higher steering effort as it seems to lead to more steering feel when combined with the high amount of caster. Some other cars have steering effort that remains constant, no matter what speed you're going, which leads to a seemingly numb steering feel for me.